Dance-It-Out Creative Movement Stories

Each independent Dance-It-Out story is a kids’ dance performance ready for the imagination stage. If you attended a series of shows, you wouldn’t expect identical choreography, costumes or backdrops.

Each book is illustrated by a unique artist and has a different feel and texture because each is a different event. In this way, readers:

• challenge their inner storyteller
• expand their memory collection of stories and characters
• empathize with a variety of individuals
• identify movement qualities and styles from diverse personalities
• think about ascetics (With traditional series, consistent layout/illustration is expected. The variety in the Dance-It-Out stories is noticeable, bringing awareness to visual design factors.) 

The Dance-It-Out collection truly offers an international stage. The illustrators come from all over the world. Using multiple illustrators:

• provides work for variety of artists, including new, unpublished talent
• gets books out quickly to children stuck at home during COVID
• matches each story with its own style of illustration (Each illustrator was chosen for the specific story, and the artist’s strengths are highlighted.)

Each Dance-It-Out book has been carefully crafted by a dance teacher with over 20 years' experience and recognized by her local city council for her work with young dancers. For example, a closer look at the book with arguably the least dance...

• The book begins by defining an emotion and exploring how bodies react to this. Konora has readers replicate how she responds, then asks kids how their bodies react. Creating emotion is one of the hardest things for dancers. Anyone who’s ever watched reality dance TV might remember comments about contestants needing to express themselves in more believable ways.
• Kids pretend to put on PJs. This simple action involves both sideways and forward weight shift, balance, and coordination. If you try this action, you’ll notice a weight shift to lift one foot, arms reaching forward with bottom reaching back in opposition, and the body's adjustment as the foot goes into the pant. You may even notice your core engaging. 
• A silly teeth-brushing song provides a self-care plug, an idea with which many dancers struggle. 
• Brielle goes to check on a noise, by turning her head to look around, readers isolate body parts and identify how a head shift can create emotion, another advanced concept. 
• When kids tiptoe back, they are working on relevé, moving slowly, and the concept of a soft landing.
• Readers gently place the gift, learning about movement quality. 
• The ball movements give kids not only spatial and body awareness, but the ever-important concept of stillness. Sometimes the hardest part is not moving.
• Arm criss-crossing (putting the robe on and crossing it closed) has been shown to improve brain connections. 
• Falling to the ground is an important dance skill, not only in choreography but to be less likely to get hurt (most pointe students will fall). 
• Climbing a ladder takes coordination of 4 limbs plus body while managing weight shift. Thinking about bottoms reaching out means pliés later (with bottoms staying in) should be easier. 
• Proper breath control is crucial for any sport, and readers access breath with awareness. 

Along with the subtly-introduced dance concepts, Brielle shows that sleep is necessary and welcomed, and she demonstrates good manners and respect. She reminds us that dancing is joyful, and friendship is a treasure.

There are 14 Dance-It-Out total books in process, with the last expected February 2022. 

Children who have enjoyed the series might be interested in Dancing Shapes, a series for older children. If children have read all of the Dance-It-Outs, we'll send along a free copy of Dancing Shapes (send us a picture).